Business Card Origami

You're in a meeting, you are getting bored. Business card origami will keep you awake! The world of origami is ever expanding: you can fold a square sheet of paper, or you can fold just about anything: candy wrappers, money, sticky note paper, toilet paper, and yes - you can fold business cards too.

Paper vs. Business Cards

There are some basic differences between origami and business cards origami.

Shape: many origami models start with a square sheet of paper. In contrast, most business cards are rectangular in shape.

Size: commercially available origami paper is typically 6" x 6" though they can be as small as 1" square or as large as 10" square. Professional origami artists can start with much larger sheets - as large as 13 feet x 13 feet. In contrast commercially available business cards in USA and Canada are typically 3.5" x 2".

Weight: paper used for origami varies in weight: from light weight kami to the heavier sheets used for wet folding. However, it is safe to say that the card stock used to make business cards is 3 to 4 times heavier than the paper used to fold origami.

Because of the above differences, folding business cards into origami models requires special consideration. Simple models with few steps work best because business cards are already quite thick to begin with. Diagrams that begin with a square sheet of paper need to be modified to accommodate a business card's rectangular shape. Lastly, models which use multiple business cards assembled together to form one shape are more dramatic because more cards create larger models. This type of origami is called modular origami or unit origami.

There are many business card origami instructions scattered throughout the internet. Check Malache's web page for an extensive list.

With CuttingBusiness Card Origami Holders
The queen of business card origami is probably Jeannine Mosely. She made a business card structure called a Menger's Sponge using66,048 business cards - it was 150 pounds and 4½ feet tall. [Photo by M Wertheim, Institute For Figuring.]

Similarly tens of thousands business cards were assembled to form the a replica of the Union Station in Worcester,

MA. This was accomplished with the help of 500 volunteers from 15 local schools. [Photo by J Mosely, compare to actual building here.]

Mosley does it again. In September 2012, she and members of the Institute For Figuring unveil the Mosely Snowflake Sponge, a business card installation representing a 3D fractal. The project was 7-months long, involved hundreds of volunteers and required 49,000 business cards. See how to make one unit here

If you are a single individual with a limited number of cards, you can still make impressive business card projects as seen here. These were predominantly created and/or folded by Jennifer Campbell and Valerie Vann.

Some origami purists do not like to cut their paper when doing origami. But if you were to allow cutting, you can make a whole new set of business card artwork that will surely turn heads. See cool, 3-D business cards by Paul Jackson, Jeremy Shafter, Ilan Garibi and others here.

London-born product designer, Sam Buxton, has a unique business card made of stainless steal. The thin sheet is cut in various places so it unfolds into a 3-D replica of himself working at his computer. Very unique, very creative. Not quite origami, more in the lines of origamic architecture. Buxton's business card caught the eye of a manufacturer and similar pop up cards are now available for sale as the MIKRO-Man series of fold-up sculptures. Go to MIKRO-man web site to see more www.mikromart.com.

business card origami here and here
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